Steam rises
above the Kawah Mas thermal area in the crater of Papandayan.
This view from NW showsGunung Warirang to the left
and the eastern wall of the Papandayan crater in the background.
The 1772 debris avalanche travelled down the valley to the left.Photo: Tom Casadevall, 1986 (USGS)

Papandayan is situated on the island of Java, at 7°32'
S and 107°73'E, rising 2.665 m asl, and
lies apprx. 175 km south east of the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Papandayan
is a complex stratovolcano with four large summit craters, the youngest
of which has breached to the
NE by collapse during a brief eruption in 1772 and contains active fumarole
fields.

The
lighter colored area on the left is Alun-Alun, the uppermost of four
large craters.
The valley below in the center of the photo extending to the NE in the
breach left by collapse
in 1772. The volcano in the distance is Gunung Guntur, another historically
active volcano.Photo: Tom Casadevall, 1986 (USGS)

The broad 1.1 km wide, flat-floored Alun-Alun crater
truncates the summit of Papandayan,
and Gunung Puntang to the north gives the volcano a twin-peaked appearance.
Several
episodes of collapse have given the volcano an irregular profile and
produced debris
avalanches that have impacted lowland areas beyond the volcano.

Since its first historical eruption in 1772, in which
a catastrophic debris avalanche destroyed
40 villages, only two small phreatic eruptions have occured from the
vents in the NE-flank
fumarole field, Kawah Mas.

Steam
rises ffrom a sulfur-encrusted fumarole at Kawah Mas (Golden Crater),
a frequently visited destination at Papandayan.
A lirge number of high-temperature fumaroles, with temperatures
of several hundred degrees C, are located within Kawah Mas.Photo by Lee Siebert, 1995 (Smithsoinian Institution)

Up to 07.45 local time today, there were 98 times explosions, that produced
a white-grey ash plume which rose 200-600 m high and blew westward.
Seismograph remain showing volcanic tremosr, emissions ( medium-high
intensity), and continuous explosions .List of seismic record is: 10
shallow volcanic, 1 low frequency, and continuous tremor.

November 17th, 2002Despite the obvious
dangers, many people entered the safety area near Mount Papandayan's
crater to get a closer look at the huge majestic eruption. Hundreds
of villagers, foreigners, photographers and cameramen took the risk
of going in closer than one-kilometer radius cordon zone around the
volcano's crater, which was still spewing ash and thick smoke on Saturday.(So if you ever wondered why people get caught in volcano-eruptions,
one of the answers are given here.....)

The volcano is still dangerous and no one is allowed
to enter the forbidden are. Despite the decreasing number of eruptions,
there are no signs that the 2,665-meter-high volcanic peak will slow
down completely and the situation is still similar to that on Friday.
There is nothing the authorities can do to help them if the volcano
starts to discharge hot lava that could flow down to farmlands and villages.

November 16th, 2002According to monitoring and seismographic
records, the volcano, after its major eruption
early this morning (Friday), has shown increasing activity by continually
spewing hot ash and
thick smoke to a height of 6,000 meters.

So far the volcano has spewed out more than one million cubic meters
of volcanic material, including silica, magnesium and sulfur, which
would be dangerous to humans if it were mixed
with the mudflows moving toward the Cileutik, Cibeureum and Cimanuk
Rivers flowing
from the volcano.

November 15th, 2002Papandayan erupted early this morning, around
6:00 o'clock local time, belching thick smoke
up to 6.000 m into the sky, sending hot ash and lava onto nearby areas,
and triggering panic
among residents in nearby areas. (Indonesian Post said: 'There were
no signs of hot lava or clouds of poisonous gas that often accompany
volcanic eruptions')

A major eruption took place at 6:33 a.m. this morning.
After that more than 10 big eruptions
were recorded within an hour. Friday morning's eruption was the biggest
so far since the Papandayan volcano began to rumble early this week.
Before the eruption as many as 48 tremors were recorded in 12 hours.

The long-dormant Papandayan volcano has been causing
havoc in the area since Monday afternoon, when lahar -- accumulated
lava from past flows -- on the volcano's peak broke
off after heavy rains and poured down on nearby villages, burying 17
houses, an Islamic
boarding school and two bridges.

Officials on Friday issued their maximum alert status
for Papandayan in West Java province
after a dawn eruption. Residents have been evacuated out of a four kilometre
area around the volcano.

November 13th, 2002, 08:00 GMTAt least 5,000 people have fled their homes
near a volcano in Indonesia's West Java province which is emitting smoke
and mudflows. At least six out of
eight craters of the Papandayan
volcano began emitting white and black smoke on Tuesday.

The authorities have also closed an area of seven kilometres
from the peak of the volcano. And here comes what is confusing:
The volcano near the town of Garut had since Tuesday been emitting mudflows
known as lahar into the Cibeureum river. Since this is NOT a mud-volcano,
the only answer I can imagine, is that rain has fallen and brought ash
from the flanks downwards and that mixture has become mudflows. Anyone
else have any suggestions?

At least 18 homes in two villages had been destroyed
by the mudflows, and 5,000 people had
fled their homes compared to 2,000 on Monday, when the volcano belched
smoke and lava.
The refugees have taken shelter in a mosque, a sport stadium and a local
provincial government office in Cisurupan. The mudflows covered around
43 hectares of rice fields in one village.
Officials have set up four emergency medical posts to help the villagers.

November 13th, 2002, 07:00 GMTThere have been no reports of fatalities but
the lava has destroyed houses in a nearby village.The authorities has rised the alarm-level,
as they expect more lava is trying to get out from the volcano in the
near future.

November 13th, 2002'Papandayan volcano cools
down, 3,000 people refuse to return' - That's the next newsline
we read, and you get a bit confused, after having heard that this was
only a mudslide.

According to 'The Jakarta Post', Papandayan
now has stopped spewing out lava, but 3,000 frightened villagers are
still too scared to return home. On Tuesday afternoon only white smoke
was emitting from one of its craters, but during Monday the number of
residents who had
fled their homes rose from 2,000 to 3,000. There are 5 villages that
have been evacuated.

Lava and ash have flowed down the volcano-flanks into the Cibeureum
river.

November 12th, 2002, afternoon
It might have been a mudslide, mistaken for an eruption.

November 12th, 2002A news-article this morning says: 'Thousands Flee Volcano in Indonesia'.
It is the Papandayan volcano that should have erupted yesterday, forcing
about 1,000 people to flee their villages.
Lava has been spewed into the air around 3 PM local time. Inhabitants
of two nearby villages
have already moved to safer places, and the authorities are prepaired
to evacuate other citites.

It has now, Tuesday morning, been confirmed that there
has been an eruption here, and we
will be back later today with more news. However, there are no immediate
reports of damage
or casualties.

Latest news always above. Older eruptions
below.

Also in the years 1923 and 1942 were small eruptions, both at VEI
1, with much lesser damages and casualties than the great VEI 3
eruption of 1772.

Collapse
of the summit of Papandayan on August 8, 1772, accompaniesd by a brief,
5 minute long explosive eruption, produced a debris avalanche that swept
over lowland areas to the east, destroying 40 villages and killing 2.957
persons.
The farmland in the foreground are underlain by the deposits from this
avalanche,
which traveled 11 km from the volcano.Photo: Tom Casadevall, 1986 (USGS)